Florida trip might help district

Surely Port Huron Area School District leaders knew they were in for a tongue lashing. Anytime public school officials decide to spend money on something the public considers nonessential, if not frivolous, there's bound to be an uproar.

When news broke last week that the district will be sending 56 teachers and 15 administrators to a June conference in Florida, the reaction was predictable.

Critics attacked the Board of Education for authorizing the trip and its $103,157 price tag. They pointed to the conference's location - in Kissimmee, not far from Disney World. Worse, cynics noted two of the three hotels that will house participants are at the resort - proof positive this is just a pleasure trip.

Bashing school district leaders might be good fun, but it's worth considering why they are willing to bear the ridicule.

The Model Schools Conference is designed to promote and share the best teaching methods among educators throughout the nation. Its host, the International Center for Leadership in Education of Rexford, N.Y., is the consulting company the Port Huron Area School District hired two years ago to improve its educational quality.

There are critics, some of them Port Huron teachers, who don't think much of the ICLE. But the district's leaders know teaching methods are evolving, and they have placed their faith in ICLE's promise to help improve classroom instruction and curriculum.

Superintendent H. Ronald Wollen believes the June 24-27 is essential to achieving those goals.

"It ties into what we are doing, and you don't know what you don't know until you start going to these national conferences to hear people speak from across the nation with innovative ideas and what we need to do to improve instruction," Wollen said.

"It goes right along with our vision in terms of what we are doing with ICLE."

A majority of district voters agreed to a $22.78 million bond to improve buildings, classrooms and technology. The district administration is investing in ways to improve the way its students are taught.

The naysayers have a point: Disney World is a red flag. But the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center is the conference site.

The $103,157 cost is considerable. But the district is using federal professional staff development grants -and not a penny from its general fund.

Granted, the ICLE could have picked a better location, but that point is moot. The Model Schools Conference has information Port Huron educators need.

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Florida trip might help district

Surely Port Huron Area School District leaders knew they were in for a tongue lashing. Anytime public school officials decide to spend money on something the public considers nonessential, if not